Published: Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 08:32 PM.

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PANAMA CITY — The defendants charged with mutilating and killing a 90-year-old Lynn Haven man cased his house after they were put up to it by a woman who wanted to inherit his property, according to one of the defendants’ cellmates.

According to court records, Ashley Griffin, one of five people arrested in connection to the killing of Wallace Scott in April, discussed her role in the homicide to a cellmate at the Bay County Jail.

Griffin is charged with first-degree murder, along with Kevin Jeffries and David Challender. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty against Jeffries and Challender but not against Griffin, who helped lead police to the other suspects.

Griffin has written letters to the judge presiding in her case insisting she was not involved, but a woman who spent time with her in jail has told deputies with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office that Griffin was not only involved in the killing but in the planning, as well.

The woman told investigators that Griffin confided in her on multiple occasions about the crime and the planning that went into it.

According to a transcript of the woman’s statement:

Sherri Mercer, a woman who worked for Scott as a caregiver, met with Griffin and Jeffries in Dothan, Ala., and they rode back to Bay County together. During the drive, Mercer used Scott’s credit card to pay for gas, and that brought up the topic of Scott’s will.

PANAMA CITY — The defendants charged with mutilating and killing a 90-year-old Lynn Haven man cased his house after they were put up to it by a woman who wanted to inherit his property, according to one of the defendants’ cellmates.

According to court records, Ashley Griffin, one of five people arrested in connection to the killing of Wallace Scott in April, discussed her role in the homicide to a cellmate at the Bay County Jail.

Griffin is charged with first-degree murder, along with Kevin Jeffries and David Challender. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty against Jeffries and Challender but not against Griffin, who helped lead police to the other suspects.

Griffin has written letters to the judge presiding in her case insisting she was not involved, but a woman who spent time with her in jail has told deputies with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office that Griffin was not only involved in the killing but in the planning, as well.

The woman told investigators that Griffin confided in her on multiple occasions about the crime and the planning that went into it.

According to a transcript of the woman’s statement:

Sherri Mercer, a woman who worked for Scott as a caregiver, met with Griffin and Jeffries in Dothan, Ala., and they rode back to Bay County together. During the drive, Mercer used Scott’s credit card to pay for gas, and that brought up the topic of Scott’s will.

Mercer was a beneficiary and they discussed killing him so she could inherit money and property, which the conspirators would split. They committed the crime April 4 because Mercer had learned of Scott’s plans to remove her as a beneficiary from the will a few days later.

They drove from Dothan to Scott’s house that night to get cash from Scott to buy drugs. Jeffries discussed with Scott a need to repair a vehicle as a pretext to go inside the home and learn the layout and easiest ways to break in later.

At some point during the planning, Mercer said she wanted them to mutilate Scott’s genitals. Griffin, during the break-in, attempted to follow through with Mercer’s requests using scissors, but she was unable to finish.

Griffin was the one who tied Scott up during the break-in, and she was the one who would beat Scott when he refused Challender’s and Jeffries’ repeated demands for Scott’s bank account PINs. Griffin held a gun in Scott’s mouth and stabbed something through his leg.

Mercer and Deborah Cupp, another of Scott’s caregivers, also were arrested and charged with fraud after Scott was killed. The charges against Cupp were dropped last week, and Mercer pleaded no contest to grand theft and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

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